a day dreamer and a world citizen

I met her for one hour on Friday evening after connecting with her through Couch Surfing in January. We decided to rent a car for a day and I would guide her …
… the weather forecast was excellent for the western peninsula Snaefellsnes.

We made a few stops when the view was to beautiful to move …

But we were heading towards Arnarstapi – our first stop.

From Arnarstapi we took a hike to Hellnar – 2,5 km walk each way.

Wonderful spots along our walk demanded quite a few stops on the way …

Power and beauty of the amazing Icelandic sort …

At Hellnar we took a little walk towards the Glacier – Snaefellsjokull

And looking back by the graveyard at Hellnar:

And then walking back to Arnarstapi, where our car was parked. The walk was slippery at times, but we had a path to follow through the otherwise tough terrain.

From Arnarstapi we drove to one of the most amazing and powerful places I’ve ever been to. Heading towards Djupalon, my heart beat hard with anticipation.

In the breaking waves small pebbles rock and roll – the energy so powerful that it is palpable, and enchanting. It is really hard to move away from there once you’ve made it there.

Enchanting and powerful … ocean hitting the rocks … mesmerizing

And looking in the other direction, at Djupalon:

And across the waves towards the open ocean …

At my feet the lathering power …

We drove back along the North-Coast of Snaefellsnes Peninsula …
… the last picture in this blog being the blues of the light shift.

Iceland is totally worth visiting – so many beautiful places, all over the island.
I love my chances to get around – lacking car most of the times …
… the perfect move is to be chosen a guide🙂
Love it!

All the radio people are telling us to stay inside. I know there are some problems in Reykjavik especially on the outskirts, because of SuperPeople driving their SuperCars, whether the tiers are flat or not. There are heaps of small cars all over Reykjavik preventing the normal traffic of big cars and busses … everything is delayed and … well you should hear the news!!

I went for a walk in the “STORM” and indeed the snow was somewhat blowing in my face. But I was properly dressed and my walk was refreshing.

I’ve been looking at my pictures and I find this one extremely funny … A real “Snow Storm” indeed🙂

As a holistic healer I’m thinking differently about appearances. Reflections have always drawn my attention. When I started photographing a few years ago, these were the visions I got drawn to, and now I’m really interested in what’s beyond the surface of the appearance, the mask, what are we hiding?

Do we realize our own strength? our power? the freedom of our soul?

Am I who I am or do I appear to be someone else?
Do I deny myself the qualities of my own core? trying to please others?
Am I struggling to fit others picture? or dare I stand out, strong and proud?

Someone told me you could connect horsepower to people, And I thought: “bullshit”. A young man was pointed at as a facilitator of this kind of transaction, a typical Looser I know of. “Even more bullshit” I said to myself, “how might he do that?” Then I felt the horsepower connecting, within me the immerse power and even better; I could feel the horse’s spirit, the power of the one that can’t be tamed, but prefers to run wild, powerful and free like the wind, going wherever his mind longs to go. I felt the strength, the power and the joy of the free spirit. I took another look at the young “looser” and knew he had within him some hidden energy.

… doing exactly nothing special, reading a bit, meditating, sitting in this tiny apartment of mine, just sitting here, occasionally looking through the window, thinking I should be doing something, going somewhere. Deep inside I’ve been fighting this feeling of shame, not doing something, not making the most of my time. How come it seems so wrong? I really do not want to move, I don’t want to go out today, it is snowing out there and kind of chilly.

A few minutes ago I was really fighting, thinking about bending to this urge of doing … still just wanting to stay put, and I really needed to get rid of this feeling of shame. Who is the master of me?

I stood up just before I started writing this blog post. Moved from my chair to my table (about five steps) grabbed my deck of tarot cards and started shuffling them. One card fell out of the deck and I looked at it:

LUXURY

I didn’t have to meditate much on that. Of course it is a luxury to have a place to stay, to have a warm and cozy apartment, to be able to sit in my chair, knowing that I have enough food in my fridge for today, ice-cold tab water running if I need a drink. I don’t need to go out, I can sit, stay put and enjoy the luxury of not having to do anything at all. My window is open, I can breathe the fresh Icelandic winter’s air while still inside where it is nice and cozy.

I had already, a bit earlier today pulled Paulo Coehlo’s Alchemist out of the bag I bought second hand last weekend. It is the Icelandic translation, which I have never read, because when I first read the English version a few years ago, I read through it and at the last page I turned to the first one and read it all over again. I’ve been thinking about rereading it for quite a few months now … and there it was lying among other great books last Sunday, when I grabbed it.

I’m about to turn back to my lazy boy chair and read the Alchemist – I don’t have to do anything today. I simply chose to enjoy the luxury of being here … just being!

Having enough time tends to make me lazy … it is strange! When I keep my days busy and scheduled I find time to do all the things that need to be done, but when I have time enough I tend to do nothing😉 … except daydreaming🙂

But still, I’m on the move most days, whether I’m working or not I usually have something going. I’m still getting around and meeting friends and family after being abroad for four months last year. I’m happy in my everyday life. Sometimes I sit down just to enjoy the moment and when I’m on the move, especially when I’m walking around my Down Town area I find my self looking at the trees, enjoying the light of these dark winter days … and occasional sunny moments.

The days are already elongating – pushing the darkness of the mornings and evenings closer to the nightly hours … I look forward to the spring and summer, but can’t complain, because January here in the South West Corner of Iceland has been fabulous, degrees above 0°C most of the time. But the majority of Iceland hasn’t been so fortunate – the snow has been falling in the Northern and Eastern areas, blocking the mountain roads, delaying travelers for days and days …

I enjoy my work and my working hours, working 24 hrs at every shift, having lots of leisure days in between. My picture files are on my mind from time to time, one of these days I will start working on my uploaded files; the pictures from my travel. I intend to make a new Photo Traveling Book. I’m so proud of the last one I made from my travel down Europe – and I believe I have enough stuff to make another one just as good! I just have to find the drive to start this work … I will soon!

Sometimes my mind goes to the novel I started to write in the Bahamas … one day I also have to find the drive in me to look it up and keep on writing – I know I had some good stuff going there …

My special working hours give me lots of time for my hobbies and interests …
… I just have to kick the lazy ME and get going!

… because as I said yesterday, I couldn’t just walk through my doors quite yet.

So I went strolling down my street – still promising myself to keep within the 150 meters radius (200 feet approximately).
I stopped at one of the most extraordinary coffe houses in central Reykjavik, I haven’t been in there many times, but guess I will be a frequent guest in the future, since the place is almost opposite my home … Café Babalú.

By Babalú I looked back up my street … admiring the beautiful line of houses …

Walking the streets leisurely, I lingered for a while every now and then …

At the corner of Freyjugata and Njardargata (Njarðargata) the line of houses has caught many photographers eyes …

And Thorsgata (Þórsgata) above Odinstorg (Óðinstorg) a quiet street where my grandmother used to live when I was a little girl. She had two separate rooms up on a storage loft on third floor, the stairs were steep and hard to climb. There she lived for a few years, and since we were living in the close neighborhood my sister and I were frequent visitors. When she finally got a decent apartment in Reykjavik and a phone line connected, she enjoyed it for about a week or so, before she took her final breath – and died. She was a beautiful woman, a music lover with rosy cheeks and loving heart, but always astonished, shaking her head when we wouldn’t drink her coffee😉

With my head full of memories I went down the street, to Odinstorg (Óðinstorg) … took one look down Spitalastigur

Turned around … walked a few meters – and somehow my spirit seems to have been reflective, either through my memories
… or just the beauty of reflections – they always catch my attention easily. Just like this window, telling a whole different story.

This is a window of an art gallery and the words: Fugl = Bird ; Snert = Touch. But I didn’t catch the art, only the opposite side of the street, Skolavordustigur (Skólavörðustígur) … walking towards my home again.

Between houses – you can see backyards … nice twist of colors here:

Another play of light and reflections …

And one more at the antic store …
Before heading home, putting the kettle on, my eyes caught and I had to take the last picture of the day…
… my little daydreaming girl, and her admirer.